Draw Me Eternity

Azura sat at the desk in her room, leaning back in her chair with her head hanging back. A cold cloth covered her forehead and eyes, blocking out the world. She had been listening to music before, but when her head started to hurt badly she didn't think that she could stand to continue. The images that had danced along behind her eyes were still fresh but she still couldn't bring herself to understand what they were. The only thing that was different this time was that it was very bright; blues and yellows, pale greens and vibrant reds. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Are you hurt?"

The voice caused her to vault up in her chair, nearly falling out of it, and the face cloth to fly off and land on the floor. She looked over to the window at her left in shock, not expecting to hear a voice coming from outside of it. And yet, there he was.

"Godric!" she gasped out in surprise, her hand moving to her heart as it raced within her chest. He sat on her window ledge calmly, wearing a pair of white linen pants and a soft grey shirt. It had only been three days since she had seen him and yet it was still a thrill to see him once again; an occurrence that sent a jolt through her whole system.

"I apologize for startling you, Azura," he said calmly, a faint smile gracing his features. To most he would have looked like a very sad man, someone that looked tired and worn down. Azura, however, could see that there was a fire inside of him that just needed to be awakened first, something that could push him to continue. "Is something wrong?"

"Just a headache," she assured as she picked the facecloth up from her homework and placed it in the bowl of cold water that sat on her bookshelf to the side, away from her projects to keep them safe before she handed them in. "Uhm…would you like to come in?" she invited hesitantly, watching the light enter his eyes before he swung his legs over the windowsill and then he was standing in her room.

"Exams?" he asked after a moment, his eyes flicking over to her desk. She winced at the thought of having to study more and leaned over to slam the books closed, turning back to Godric with a smile on her face. A soft chuckle vibrated through his chest at the action, stepping up to look at the cover of the book.

"The arts?" he asked softly, surprised to see an art history text book sitting on the large desk.

"Yes, I love learning about ancient time arts. People don't seem to realize how much the arts affect our everyday lives as well or how we have grown over the years. Roman arches, for example. They're everywhere," she explained. Godric was mesmerized by the passionate look that came to her face as she spoke of her studies. When she saw him looking at her, smiling gently, she blushed and looked away. "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. You must know all of this already."

"No, don't apologize. You have a strong passion for your studies. I respect that," he assured in a silky tone. His cold fingers slipped beneath her chin and lifted her chin up so that she could meet his eyes.

"Blue," she whispered suddenly, catching him by surprise.

"Pardon?"

"Your eyes," she elaborated. "The last time I saw you they were very green, but they are more blue tonight." She leaned closer to him then, looking into his eyes as she inspected them. The flecks of green were still there, circling his pupil, but the blue just stood out so much more. She found it mesmerizing. She didn't even realise that Godric was looking over her blue eyes as well, seeing that they were a very light shade with dark blue and grey specks throughout.

"You have very beautiful eyes," he replied softly, watching as her eyes focused again and she realized how close she was to his face, just staring into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

Godric's hand came to the base of her skull, the movement too fast for a human to notice immediately. By the time she realized that his cool touch was beneath her hair and against her neck he was already pulling her forward. His cold lips caressed hers so suddenly that she was left frozen in surprise, the action completely unsuspecting. The touch was so brief that Azura was left wanting more, her body leaning toward him as she sought his touch again. He didn't move away as her lips pressed to his once, twice, before he finally pressed forward on the third kiss and kept her there with his hand on the back of her skull.

It wasn't a hungry kiss, they didn't fight against one another for dominance or try to strip the another of their clothing. It was testing new ground, the kiss of new romance and old feelings that had once been laid to rest. Azura had never felt such a way before and Godric had never thought he would feel that way ever again.

Azura soon pulled back, her eyes remaining closed as her lips tingled with the chill lingering behind. Such a pleasant chill. It seemed like the coolness of his skin had fought off her headache flawlessly. When she finally opened her eyes she was smiling again, meeting his blue eyes with her own. His hand slipped down from her neck to the small of her back, an affectionate and comforting gesture.

"You have school tomorrow, correct?" Godric asked in a hushed voice, almost as though speaking too loudly would break the moment between them.

"Yes, my first exam is tomorrow."

Her eyes were questioning before she came to realize why he had brought it up.

"You should rest; it is late."

"I suppose," she agreed in a wistful tone. "Stay for a while longer, please?" she asked quickly when he rose to his feet, his hand sliding along her back as he drew it away from her. He paused before he could turn and looked down at her again, seeing the innocence in her eyes and nodded his head. She was already dressed in shorts and a shirt for bed, so all she had to do was turn off her lights before she slipped beneath the duvet over her bed.

Godric slipped his shoes off beside the bed and moved over to lie beside her, atop of the covers. He watched as she curled up on her side, facing him, and fell still. He smiled down at her through the darkness of the room as he leaned his head on his hand, his elbow sinking into her pillows, and watching her face as it calmed and showed the sleep as it took over. Her heart slowed down to a calm resting pace and he knew immediately that he would remain until he was forced to leave at sunrise.

He would be leaving within the week to return to Dallas. He had wished to ask her to come back with him, but he knew that she couldn't leave her studies behind. There were several colleges and universities that she could attend but they were not known for their arts programs. To take away her ability to do what she loved would not be worth having her in Dallas with him. She wouldn't be the same.

So, he would wait.

It was the early hours of the morning when she began to fuss about in her sleep, stirring and rolling. Her hands kept moving up to her head, along her temples and around her eyes. She was fighting against another headache; even in her sleep she didn't seem to be able to escape them.

Godric moved up to her cautiously, having kept a small distance between them, and gently slipped one of his arms beneath her head and drew her head up to rest on his shoulder. His other, free hand laid flat on her forehead to try and fight away the headache with his cold skin. She must not have liked taking the medicine that was used by the modern era and instead tried to use cold to get rid of it.

Her entire body was warm, more so than a human's should, and she curled herself against him so suddenly that he was shocked for a moment. Her arms wrapped around his waist and pressed herself against him as best she could with the duvet between them. Holding her throughout the remaining hours of the night was something that he did gladly, running his hand through her loose blonde hair and revelling in the soft feel of it. She must have showered only hours before.

When he looked to her bedside clock and saw that it was less than an hour before sunrise he knew that he would need to get back to the hotel that he was staying at before he was too late. Azura had a strong hold on him even for a sleeping human and it only made it harder for him to leave, but he was soon pulling his shoes back on and leaning over her bed to press a soft kiss to her forehead as a delayed goodnight gesture.

"I'll return," he promised to the sleeping woman before he slipped away silently and departed through her window just as he had when he came to her hours prior.

Azura woke alone to the sound of her alarm going off, groggily looking around herself for a moment before she was awake enough to reach over and turn it off. Rising up and pushing her duvet aside, she looked around the steadily lightening room. Of course he would have had to leave at some time through the night. She didn't even know how long he had stayed after she had fallen asleep.

She hurriedly moved over to her bookshelf and pulled off a thick black book, blank on the front and side of any title and flipped it open to a clear page. She nestled down into her bed again, a pencil in her hand, and began to sketch away. She couldn't get a defined enough drawing since she was not looking at him, but she was able to inspect him enough the night before to know the details needed.

She spent a good half-hour making the rough work of his face; high cheek bones, calm eyes and thin lips. The time that she should have spent doing any last minute studying was used up on the quick, but fairly realistic drawing of the man that had stolen her first kiss. As well as her second, third and fourth. She couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips and could not make it go away as she finished up the details that she could. She had that same grin on her features as she was getting ready for school, pulling on her uniform and doing her hair up quickly.

School was not something that she enjoyed but it was something that she did without complaint and very easily. She never really had to concentrate hard on something to understand it and her teachers often thought she may have some type of eidetic memory that allowed her to remember things in her mind more easily. An excuse, that's what it was. They just didn't think that someone could just remember things easily.

"Good luck, dear!" Mrs. Cross called from the kitchen when she heard Azura stop at the front door to pull on her shoes.

"Merci, bonne journée!"

The streets were particularly dead at that time of the day, those that were awake still only getting ready for the day. Walking to school each day meant that she had to get up quite a bit earlier than everyone else but she didn't mind. It was her time to think and be alone. Her nightly walks even had more people around so that didn't quite count.

Karen Olsen was already in the café when she arrived, no other customers there at that time, and was making her a tea and some toast to eat before her exam.

"Good morning, Azura," she greeted as soon as she heard the door open; she only looked back when the teenager didn't answer immediately. "What's wrong?"

"What's your opinion on vampires? Truly?" Azura asked suddenly, placing her bag on a chair at one of the tables to relieve her should of its weight. Karen looked taken aback at the sudden question, not expecting that to be the first thing that Azura asked her that morning. She had always been a very inquisitive girl but they hadn't strayed to the topic of the undead overly often.

"Vampires? Whatever for?"

"I…I met one," she answered in a soft voice, looking at the tiled floor of the café. Karen didn't say anything, only looked at the young girl in shock.

She was finally able to ask in a stuttering voice, "When was this?"

"Two years ago, and then I met another one year ago. They both saved my life," she began, taking a seat at the front counter as Karen stopped what she was doing to give all attention to the younger woman. "I was walking around, avoiding my foster parents at the time, when a vampire stopped me from walking out onto the street and getting hit; his name was Godric. A year later I was saved by a friend of his when he noticed a group of vampires following me about. The other night, when I had to get home because of the rain? I ran into him again."

"Which him?"

"Godric. He found me under an awning when the rain started and offered to walk me home and let me use his umbrella. He came to my house last night-"

"What?" Karen demanded, her eyes widening as she leaned forward on the counter. "Please do not tell me that you invited him in, Azura? What about Mrs. Cross? He could hurt her-"

"He would not do that," she interrupted fluently, "he's very kind. When I first met him I did not know that he was a vampire at all until I felt how cold his hands were. He's very kind and he saved my life. Besides, he does not live here. He's only here on work."

"Azura-"

"Do you fear them? Do you think that they will harm us? Are you like all of those people out there that refuse to even say vampire?" Azura sounded broken, upset, as she looked to her friend for help. Karen opened her mouth to speak, but found that she could not. The words that she wanted to tell Azura would not come, because she truly didn't know what to say to make her feel better.

"I have never met a vampire, Azura. I cannot give you an accurate answer. Please, don't be upset. I don't hate you or judge you." The words seemed to help the teenager just slightly, bringing the light back to her eyes. "What do you feel for this vampire, Godric?"

"He saved me and he actually takes the time to talk to me. Last night he listened to me babble on about my art studies," she admitted with a blush coming to her cheeks. A smile had returned to her lips as she looked up to Karen with shy eyes. "He kissed me."

Karen was silent again, shocked into a mute state as she looked to the blushing girl across from her. She was so adorable and innocent but she was also growing up. She had told Karen of cute boys at her school before but she had never actually shown any kind of interest. With this boy, Godric, she was actually blushing and stuttering over herself bashfully.

"Oh, dear."

Sorry, no Eric in this chapter but he has not been forgotten. This story isn't centered around him as it is. I'm thinking of writing a Godric/OC/Eric story as well, though, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of that idea. Should I go for it?

Anyway, I've already got the next chapter going so it'll be along soon. Please review, feedback is my motivation! :)